US stocks rose on Friday as key benchmarks hit the week's strongest weekly gains and investors analyzed upbeat headlines on US-China trade developments, as well as conflicting data. about the American economy.

The shares will also be affected by Friday's quadruple revenge, the simultaneous expiration of stock index futures and stock index options, as well as individual futures and options.

How did the main indices perform?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average

DJIA, + 0.39%

increased by 35 points, or 0.1%, to 25,749, while the S & P 500 index

SPX, + 0.39%

climbed 9 points, or 0.3%, to 2,815. The Nasdaq Composite Index

COMP + 0.77%

rose 53 points to 7,683, a gain of 0.7%.

For the week, the Dow should record a weekly gain of 1.3%, the S & P 500, an increase of 2.8%, while the Nasdaq should increase 3.8% over the last five trading days . Earnings would be the largest weekly gain since February 15, according to FactSet data.

What are the landmarks?

The Dow was weighed down this week by Boeing Inc.

BA, + 1.26%

difficulties related to the grounding of its 737 Max 8 and Max 9. Broader market performance, and technological actions in particular, were more robust after data showed that US workers remained in high demand. and that consumer confidence is increasing.

Investors are also digesting comments by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, Beijing's second-in-command after President Xi Jinping, who has expressed optimism about the possibility of reaching a trade agreement between China and the United States that suits both countries. parts.

He also denied accusations that the country has used its technology to spy on other countries, trying to solve one of the main problems between the United States and China in a trade agreement.

"This is not how China behaves. We have not done this and we will not do it in the future, "said Li in a statement translated at the closing of the National People's Congress on Thursday.

He added that the parties would perhaps be several weeks away from a tariff agreement, but described China as "very responsible and reasonable". In addition, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin met with reporters after his testimony before the Finance Committee before the Finance Committee. Xi and Trump had planned a meeting to conclude an agreement, adding that "there is still a lot of work to do."

One day ago, Bloomberg News announced that a meeting scheduled for the end of March would be postponed to April.

Trade talks between the world's two largest economies have been at the center of investors' concerns, as a violent war between the two risks harming economies around the world.

Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan left interest rates unchanged, as expected, while maintaining purchases of Japanese government bonds.

In addition to its comments on trade, China highlighted the weakness of the world's second-largest economy and pledged to implement ways to stimulate it, including lowering interest rates and bank reserve requirement ratios.

What data are being developed?

Manufacturing activity in New York State grew at a slower pace than expected. The New York Fed's Empire State Index fell to 3.7 in March from 8.8 the previous month, its lowest level in nearly two years. Economists expected a reading of 10, according to an Econoday poll.

According to a MarketWatch survey, US industrial production rose 0.1% in February, which is lower than the 0.4% rise expected by economists. The January figure, however, was revised upwards to indicate a 0.4% decrease, rather than 0.6% as previously estimated.

The report also showed that capacity utilization decreased slightly from 78.3% in January to 78.2% in February.

In the United States, job openings reached 7.58 million in January, according to the Department of Labor, the third highest level ever recorded.

Consumer confidence rose in March, from 93.8 in February to 97.8, according to a preliminary reading of the Consumer Confidence Index from the University of Michigan. The reading was above the 95 expected by economists surveyed by MarketWatch.

What do the strategists say?

"The move higher this morning is driven by [China premier Li Keqiang’s] Brent Schutte, chief investment strategist at Northwestern Mutual Asset Management, told MarketWatch that the Chinese government is committed to taking the stimulus needed to support the world's second-largest economy.

"You can see that small-cap companies are doing well, which indicates a risky atmosphere on Wall Street," he added, pointing out that consumer confidence data was reason enough to believe that Expansion of the US economy had more room for maneuver.

Pierre Veyret, Technical Analyst at ActivTrades, said: "This risk sentiment was mainly based on widespread optimism following President Trump's recent statement on" a very responsible and reasonable China. "The US President also added that 39; he would have news of a trade deal with China in the next 3 to 4 weeks, which could result in an extension of the stock rebound this year. "

"Its day of expiry of the quadruple options, which may cause an increase in volume and volatility," wrote Peter Cardillo, chief economist of markets at Spartan Capital Securities.

What stocks are under discussion?

Actions of Facebook Inc.

FB -2.79%

were under pressure after the social media company announced the departure of two senior executives. The stock was down 2.5%. Shares fell 1.9% on Thursday, with news that a grand jury has opened a criminal investigation into the company's data sharing practices.

Amazon Inc.

AMZN, + 0.81%

Shares rose 0.5% early on Friday after KeyBanc Capital overvalued its rating.

Boeing shares were up 0.9% but were down almost 11% for the week.

Bioscrip Inc.

BIOS -31.09%

Shares fell 30% after the company announced a merger agreement with private firm Option Care Enterprises Inc.

Actions of Broadcom Inc. up 10.7% Friday morning, after the chip maker announced first quarter financial results Thursday night higher than expectations.

Actions of Ulta Beauty Inc.

ULTA, + 8.13%

rose 8.1% after the beauty retailer released Thursday night financial results for the fourth quarter exceeded expectations, while showing an increase in online sales.

Newell Brands Inc.

NWL, -1.36%

CEO Michael Polk announced Thursday night that he would retire from the company at the end of the second quarter. The stock fell 50.9% on Friday.

Actions of Oracle Corp.

ORCL, -0.44%

down 0.7%, following a report released late Thursday indicating that the company's software company was beating earnings guidance for the third quarter of the fiscal year, outperforming the expectations and outlook consistent with expectations

How did the main landmarks behave yesterday?

On Thursday, the Dow Jones index gained 7.05 points to 25,709.94 points, a gain of less than 0.1%. The S & P 500 index slid by 2.44 points to 2,808.48, finishing little change, and the Nasdaq composite index lost 12.50 points, or 0.2%, to 7 630.91.

How are markets traded elsewhere?

In Asia, stocks closed higher on Friday, Japan's Nikkei 225

NIK + 0.77%

Shanghai Composite Index in China

SHCOMP, + 1.04%

and the Hong Kong Hang Seng Index

HSI, + 0.56%

all up more than 0.5%

European equities also rose, with the Stoxx Europe 600

SXXP, + 0.49%

adding 0.6%.

In commodity markets, crude oil prices

CLJ9, -0.34%

were on the rise while the price of gold

GCJ9, + 0.63%

rose, and the US dollar

DXY, -0.18%

slightly lower than his peers.

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